Indiabulls bourse proposal with govt for approval: FMC

Mumbai: India’s Forward Markets Commission (FMC) has sent the proposal for a commodity bourse from Indiabulls Financial Services Ltd and MMTC Ltd with its inputs to the federal government for in-principle approval, a top official said.

“We have sent the application to consumer affairs ministry with our inputs...which can give in-principle approval to the new exchange,” B.C. Khatua, chairman of FMC, the commodity markets regulator, told Reuters.

“We are not supposed to approve, the government will do that...but the new exchange should comply with the rules we had proposed in May for setting up of new national level multi commodity exchanges,” he said.

The proposed Indiabulls bourse, if approved, will be the fourth national-lelvel commodity bourse after Multi Commodity Exchange, National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange and National Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (NMCE).

Indiabulls and MMTC had applied to FMC in October 2007. FMC comes under the purview of consumer affairs ministry and is not an independent body like the Securities and Exchange Board of India.

Khatua also said he is yet to receive any communication from NMCE on their proposed stake sale to Reliance Money. Reliance Money, a unit of financial services company Reliance Capital Ltd, a part of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group is eyeing a 26% stake in NMCE, top officials at both companies told Reuters on Friday.